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Shinichi Izumi
- Anime ▾= - Age of 16 = - Age of 17 = - Age of 18 = }} - Manga ▾= - Age of 16 = - Age of 17 = - Age of 18 = }} - Live-action = }} |othernames = Shin |jpname = 泉 新一 |romaji = Izumi Shin'ichi |gender = Male |age = 16 (Early) 17 (In the middle) 18 (At the end) |status = Alive |relatives = Kazuyuki Izumi (Father) Nobuko Izumi (Mother - Deceased) Satomi Murano (Girlfriend) Unnamed Uncle |species = Human (Partially Parasite) |eyecolor = Brown (Black in the Manga) |haircolor = Brown (Black in the Manga) |occupation = Ronin Student |partner(s) = Migi Mamoru Uda |anime debut = Episode 1 |manga debut = Chapter 1 |name = Shinichi Izumi |seiyuu = Nobunaga Shimazaki |english voice = Adam Gibbs Cayla Coats (child) |live action = Shota Sometani |image gallery = yes|Birthday = May 17th (Taurus)|school = West High - former high school}}Shinichi Izumi (泉 新一, lit. Izumi Shin'ichi) is the main protagonist of the Kiseijuu series. He is a high school student whose right arm was infected with a parasite he named Migi. Appearance In the manga, Shinichi is of average height with a small build, with short black hair and black eyes. In the anime, his hair and eyes are brown and, in the beginning, he wears large square-rimmed glasses. He usually wears his school uniform, consisting of a white shirt and a blue blazer, while in the manga he wears a Gakuran, an all-black, old-style Japanese school uniform, with a white shirt underneath. He also tends to wear T-shirts with strangely appropriate words written on them. For example, when he first meets Migi, he has a T-shirt that says "Misery Confusion". This repeats throughout the manga. After Chapter 12 of the manga, or Episode 5 of the anime, Izumi is left with a scar on the center of his chest and back. He becomes more muscular, and in the anime, he removes his glasses, since he no longer needs them. After Chapter 17 of the manga, or Episode 7 of the anime, Shinichi begins spiking his fringe upwards. He claims to like the new look because it "looks more balanced" - symbolizing that he is no longer merely a human, and also referring to his newfound calmness and mental fortitude. After a confrontation with Gotou, he gains a new smaller scar over his right eye. After the one-year timeskip, he reverts back to his original hairstyle. Personality Initially, Shinichi is a thoughtful and nice person who cares a great deal for those around him. However, he is also considered a bit of a pushover and a wimp, due to his awkwardness and paralyzing fear of bugs. All of that starts to change after being formally introduced to and acquainted with Migi, though he is understandably horrified at first. Shinichi then becomes more aware of his surroundings and excels in sports like basketball. He also overcomes his fear of bugs, due to Parasites being much scarier, much to the confusion of his mother. When Migi proposes that they work together by "cooperating and coexisting", Shinichi initially shows great reluctance, scared of both working with an alien symbiote and the thought of killing in order to survive. He is disgusted by the Parasites killing humans senselessly, though Migi speculates that this is because it's his species that's being eaten, and points out humans eat many different lifeforms in order to survive, and that, in a way, that makes them even worse than Parasites. Nevertheless, the two are shown to be able to cooperate in a crisis, and work well together against hostile Parasites. After Nobuko Izumi's (Shinichi's mother) death and his subsequent rebuild by Migi, Shinichi gains significant resolve and resilience and is willing to risk his own life to protect his friends, family, and the public from harm. He becomes very calm and cool-headed, taking horrific events in stride without so much as flinching, a sharp contrast to his former awkward, timid self. His father even asks him outright if he's made of steel. However, he is not immune to anger, as he also shows a very vengeful side when he attempts to track down and kill the Parasite who killed his mother and took over her body, saying that the thought of such a being walking around freely makes his blood boil. However, as a side-effect of fusing with Migi, Shinichi becomes somewhat distant and unsympathetic. His bond with Migi becomes stronger and he occasionally begins to think like a parasite, as how he described a dead dog's body as 'a lump of dog-shaped meat' (Migi even notes that that sounds exactly like something he would say). This change in his behavior starts to worry those around him, especially Satomi Murano, who often speculates if it's really him, or someone else entirely. This is made worse by the fact that Migi often threatens to kill anyone who finds out about him, and so he is unable to tell people the truth about what has happened to him. Shinichi also gradually loses the ability to empathise with others and even his ability to cry. This is shown when he comes into his father's room at the hospital, speechless with grief, but unable to shed a single tear. It is also shown that he is still unable to cry despite feeling responsible for the death of Kana Kimishima and her subsequent funeral, much to the disgust of Mitsuo who speculates that he doesn't even care that she's dead. It is after this particular incident that Shinichi seriously starts to question exactly what he's turning into. However, after the death of Reiko Tamura, Shinichi reverts back to his former emotional state where he finally accepts the death of Nobuko (Shinichi's mother) and Kana Kimishima that he has regained the ability to cry again. Shinichi's opinion of Parasites changes a lot over the course of the series. At first, he considers them to be monsters, due to them being responsible for the 'Mincemeat Murders', and vehemently dismisses Migi's claim that humans are worse, though he begins to reconsider after rescuing a dog from a group of thugs. His belief that Parasites are monsters only strengthens after the deaths of his mother and Kana, believing that they must be wiped out and being frustrated by Migi's refusal to co-operate. However, after being saved by Reiko and encountering the psychotic Uragami, he admits to Migi that he doesn't know what's what anymore, and starts to wonder who the real monster is. He ends up concluding that they are only trying to survive like him, and that he can only protect the small family he has around himself. Background A young Shinichi comes home from school one afternoon and asks Nobuko Izumi (Shinichi's mother) for an aluminum plate for use in an assignment. Though she tells him to wait for her to get it for him, he tries to reach the high shelf himself where the plates are stored, falling in the process. When he falls he hits the stove, causing a pot of boiling oil to spill over, his mother quickly grabs the pot, saving Shinichi from harm, but she becomes badly burned in the process. Shinichi is often filled with guilt whenever he catches a glimpse of the burn mark on his mother's forearm. Years later, Shinichi is seen looking at the results of his high school entrance exams and he is soon approached by a young Satomi Murano, and after a brief misunderstanding, they learn they will be attending the same school. They express their excitement, looking forward to meeting again in April. History The story starts with Shinichi sleeping with his ear buds on as a parasite then enters his room and attempts to take over his brain. As it tries to crawl up his arm, he takes the ear bud cord and ties it around his arm to stop it from advancing and the parasite suddenly disappears. When Shinichi encounters the parasite again he is horrified to find out that it has eaten his right arm and replaced it. Over time they become companions, necessary for the others survival. He asks the parasite what his name should be and it replies "Migi", meaning "right hand". Shinichi is initially weak, letting Migi do all the fighting and continues to stay like this until his mother is killed by a parasite. The parasite eventually finds Shinichi's home and then supposedly kills him, stabbing him through the heart. Migi then attempts to save Shinichi's life giving him incredible strength, physically and mentally. Afterwards, Shinichi also begins to harbor great hatred towards parasites and declares to wipe them all out. He begins fighting along Migi which greatly increases their strength. Powers & Abilities Before his "death" and "rebirth", Shinichi is an ordinary human teenager who mostly relies on Migi to fight the parasites. After being saved by Migi from dying, Shinichi developed his own powers because of having 30% of Migi's body unexpectedly dispersed as cells throughout his body. Shinichi can hear, see and sense better than normal humans that his physical abilities greatly exceed those of normal humans and even parasites. *'Enhanced Strength': Shinichi's strength has grown to the point where he can easily shatter bones if he uses enough force. Another testament to his strength is being able to smash through a person’s ribcage and throw them through a concrete wall, all while ripping out said person's heart, with one arm. *'Enhanced Leap': Due to his newfound physical strength, Shinichi can jump at a height over 20 ft. He can also drop several stories and easily land on his feet while carrying another person. *'Enhanced Speed & Stamina': Shinichi has shown to be able run faster than a car driving down a road. He stated that he could easily run 100 meters under nine seconds if he really tried. He is able to run and fight for long periods of time and only needs minimal time to recover. *'Enhanced Durability & Endurance': Shinichi is able to withstand injuries that would affect a normal human. He is shown to jump from the school building at a high height while carrying Satomi and land with little consequence, barely flinch from the attacks of a grief stricken Mitsuo, was still able to run despite getting multiple cuts from Gotou in their first fight, and even withstood the pain of getting stabbed in the left arm by Uragami and retaliate afterward in the series finale. His most epic moment of durability and endurance was shown as he got punched in the stomach by fully transformed Gotou that flung him several feet in the air and onto a pile of trash, and survived. *'Enhanced Vision & Perception': In the anime, Shinichi originally needed glasses, though after merging with Migi, he no longer needed them. He's stated himself that he can easily see a person's face from 300 meters away. His brain is able to process visual stimulation to the point where a normal human appears to be standing still, when they're actually attacking him. He can also see how a parasite's appendages morph mid-attack to form weapons. *'Enhanced Reflexes': Shinichi has demonstrated incredible dodging skills and agility, most notably when he becomes scared, he uses said skills to create distance between him and his opponent(s). *'Mental Fortitude': After merging with Migi, Shinichi gains a high level of mental resilience as he walked through a hallway tainted with decapitated bodies of students with little discomfort. Weaknesses At the cost of his newfound abilities, Shinichi's empty expressions and lack of emotions began to make people suspicious of his composure in events that would cause a normal person to break down in fear. After the death of Reiko Tamura, this weakness is no longer a problem in most situations. A small remaining weakness is his inability to shed tears (except for immediately after the death of Reiko Tamura) which concerns him and makes him seem less sad to others who might expect him to cry in some situations. At the end of the series when confronted by Uragami, Shinichi states that he isn't as strong as when he faced Gotou. It's unknown if he was referring to his actual physical abilities becoming diminished, or the fact that Migi had become dormant and could no longer assist him. However, it is most likely the latter, as Shinichi stated that he isn't a normal human and that Uragami appears to be standing still right before he breaks Uragami's jaw with one hit. Trivia *The name Shinichi 'means "fresh, new" (新) ('shin) and "one" (一) (ichi). *Shinichi's surname '''Izumi '''means "spring, fountain" (泉). *In the anime, Shinichi starts off with large square-rimmed glasses, but he later discards them and this is most likely because his eyesight is improved, which results in Shinichi no longer needing glasses as Migi enhances Shinichi's senses. This could be a reference to Peter Parker's own improvement after gaining his spider powers. *The manga's timeline spans the length of Shinichi's high school years, while the anime condenses it solely to Shinichi's senior year. *In the Tokyopop westernized release, he is simply named "Shin". *Many of the unusual mental & emotional characteristics Shinichi demonstrates after fusing with Migi are potential reactions ordinary humans have when experiencing grief and trauma. **Through this lens much of the series could be taken as analogue for the spectrum of reactions humans have to adversity. Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Humans Category:Students